The Shin Megami Tensei four thread.

I figured we could use some more Atlus love here. Anyway Shin Megami Tensei four is well the fourth entry in the Shin Megami Tensei series. This series was a more mature Pokemon nine years before Pokemon came out (Megami Tensei was released in 1987, Pokemon: Red and Blue were released in 1996).

The series plot typically revolves around the end of the world happening, a battle between Angels and Demons and Humans using a Demon Summoning Program. Demon basically means any supernatural being in the series. God's, Angels, etc can be summoned using the Demon Summoning Program. And there are Demons from every mythology, so you can have all sorts of mythological figures in your party.

The combat is turn based. Each demon has elements it's weak to, hitting a demon's weakness grants the attacker an extra turn, regardless of which side their on. So you have to keep in mind what the demons you put on your team are weak to and what types of skills they have. The key to beating most bosses is finding the right set of skills to use on them.

You recruit demons by convincing them to join you, or fusing the demons you already have. The game isn't designed for you to stick with the same team, you'll have to fuse off or delete your demons to get more useful ones. Fused demons can inherit skills from the demons used to make it, and some recent entries have let you pick which skills get inherited (such as IV, thankfully).

Outside of battles, you explore dungeons and make choices that decide your ending. You can buy weapons, armor and items.